Touch-Screen Display You Can Feel

Hi MAT 120 students! Can you believe it is almost April?! This semester is just flying by! For today’s blog, I found some information about a new technology that could eventually be used in the iPhone or iPad. Enjoy!

Think back to your first cell phone, it probably only had a number pad and you had to use T9 to type out a sentence. Then, cell phones moved to having a full keyboard. But now, many new phones have completely eliminated any sort of button and evolved to a touch screen that allows way more keyboard functions and options. Even though these touch-screens offer more, many people still prefer buttons on their phone. People argue that the lack of buttons make it difficult to type on a cell phone. Now, Apple could settle this argument with their new patent application.

Apple’s latest patent application is called the “Touch-based User Interface with Haptic Feedback.” Well, that’s a mouthful. What this means is that an iPad’s or iPhone’s touch-screen display will allow user to feel buttons and other controls through the use of actuators and sensors.

These piezoelectric actuators are placed under the display and when touched, it provides the user with localized feedback (piezoelectricity means electricity resulting from pressure). Unlike other haptic technologies, like how the whole phone vibrates when the screen is touched, this localized feedback allows the user to feel individual buttons.The touch-screen will have to be flexible so the haptic layer can sense placement and pressure.

This new patent application will add to the touch-screen gestures recognized by the iOS devices. Also, this haptic feedback will allow users with disabilities be able to use iPhones and iPads more easily.